Not Always
by MarilynnRae
Summary: Sophie has been asked to join the leverage team, and how can she say no to Nate Ford? But how will she balance being a grifter for good and a mother to the daughter she loves?


_**This is dedicated to my Navy boy who had I-Day today. The next nine years of our lives will be controlled by the Navy. :) Oh well. What we do for love. **_

Each one of them had their secrets, and they all respected that. There were just things that they knew not to talk about. But sometimes there are secrets that can't always stay secrets. That's something that Sophie learned the hard way.

She was young and in love. Or maybe she wasn't in love and that made the whole thing a little bit worse. Still, it's true, you never know what love is until you hold your child in your arms. That little bitty baby with those big brown eyes watching everything sleepily. Her eye. Her lips. Her skin. The utter truth that she was the most amazing thing in the world and the most important. Still, the life she led wasn't safe for a child.

Never in a million years would Sophie Devereaux abandon her child. Even with several years of taking a "break" from her life of crime to watch her little girl toddle after her and call her mummy, Sophie needed to return to it. Crime was her life, for better or worse. It wasn't something that you could just hand up and pretend never happened. At least not in Europe, but Sophie Devereaux never existed in the US.

Imagine her surprise when Nathan Ford, _the_ Nathan Ford met her outside after an performance, clapping for her and looking at her in the way he had always looked at her. Those beautiful spiral curls, those beautiful big blue eyes. She could only smile as he clapped for her, coming towards her in that alley as though they were the only two people on the planet.

"My only fan." A sad smile played on her lips. Not because he was the only one who applauded her ability, but because she was suddenly reminded of all that she lost when she quit her little game. Not only that, but of what he lost as well.

"I'm a citizen now, honest," Sophie told him sweetly. Her grifter charm working in her flirtatious eyes. Slowly she took a few extra steps towards him making them both closer than old friends should be.

A twinkle in his eyes made her smile, but also took her back a little. He had never been so willing to her flirtations before. "I'm not."

The fluttering in her chest made her smile as butterflies appeared in her stomach. "You're playing my side." For a long moment they shared a look that neither read, just felt. "I always knew you had it in you."

But now she had other things to think about. A beautiful little girl and the comfortable living she had created for her and her daughter. What would getting back into this life mean? What would it make their future?

Yet there was Nate Ford. A man who still made frequent appearances in her dreams and was her only true challenge in her life of crime and romance. He was the one who she shared stories with. Her the villain and he the hero that did this romantic tango that would forever be their secret.

"Nathan Ford," she muttered to herself as she climbed into her car on her way home. She inhaled and rubbed her arms as though she had a chill. He was offering her hand back into the game and without completely thinking it through, she took it.

When she returned home, the sitter met her at the door. Macy was her usual sitter and knew that Ms. Devereaux was usually exhausted and ready to see her daughter as soon as she arrive home.

"She went out like a light, but she's starting to say she's too old for a sitter," Macy informed casting Sophie a small smile.

All she could do was roll her eyes. "Can't wait until that one's a teenager."

Reaching into her purse, Sophie pulled out a couple of bills and handed over to the girl who offered her own goodbye and headed to her car.

Immediately she went to the back bedroom of her apartment. She looked in on her little buddle of brown curls and tucked the covers around her just a little tighter.

Barely pressing her lips to her daughter's head she kissed her precious girl goodnight. "Things are about to change, my love."

_**So there you go! Would you like more? If so, review!**_


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